An New York Times visual journalist admitted to working for one of China's major state-run media outlets and even "enjoyed" his time with the communist nation.
A shocking revelation came about when old tweets of New York Times Director of Cinematography Jonah M. Kessel resurfaced, in which he talked about working for the Chinese Communist Party, the National Pulse reported.
According to the Pulse, Kessel tweeted back in June 2009 about starting a new job at the state-run publication China Daily in Beijing, which he was thoroughly "psyched" for. Kessel mentioned in his tweets from 2009 to 2010 that he was the Creative Director of China Daily.
Kessel boasted on Twitter about how another publication mentioned his "redesign" of China Daily. After leaving China Daily, he became a China-based photographer and cinematographer for the Ministry of Information of the People's Republic of China.
The Economist reported in 2010 that China Daily had its "biggest makeover since the newspaper was launched in 1981 as China's first English-language daily" and was also "boosting the number of its foreign correspondents," including the New York Times's Kessel.
During his time working at China Daily, Kessel often gushed about "working for" and "getting paid" by the Chinese Communist Party, going as far as sharing that "Sometimes working for the PRC has its benefits." The New York Times cinematographer also shared in 2009, "You know you work for the PRC when the first word that comes to your mind when asked to describe your workplace is 'harmonious.'"
Kessel's New York Times profile says that he is a "visual journalist" who in 2011 to 2016 "covered Asia for the video desk, working out of the Beijing and Hong Kong bureaus." He was also part of the team awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for an investigation into Apple's business practices, as well as a team who covered "the Trump administration's war on science," whose work became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
In October 2009, Kessel praised China's "National Day," which celebrates the takeover of the Chinese Communist Party, calling the event "very cool." But Kessel isn't the only pro-China New York Times staff.
In fact, a Staff Editor by the name of Diarmuid McDermott also served as an Editor and Designer at Beijing's China Daily from 2012 to 2020. Meanwhile, New York Times reporter Alex Marshall was a China Daily editor from 2003 to 2004. Marshall is a self-proclaimed "China apologist" who often took to Twitter to praise Chinese leader Xi Jinping's speeches.
The New York Times is reportedly backing companies that are against the new election law of Georgia, a state that had, for the first time in 25 years, voted Democratic, the BBC reported.
Companies that have spoken out against the controversial voting law in Georgia include Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, American AirLines, Citigroup, Apple, Facebook, Google's parent company Alphabet, Viacom CBS, Merck, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, the UPS, and more. Reuters reported on these companies' official statements condemning the new Georgia election law.
